Monday, April 30, 2018

Mascots have been part of the advertising world for over
a century, like Mr. Peanut and Jolly Green Giant. They personify the character
of the brand—and they may come in many forms such as super humans, fantastic
creatures, animals—and in the case of JOLLIBEE—an
insect!

JOLLIBEE IN 1983

It was only in the 1980s that the use of “live” mascots was
fully exploited by Philippine advertisers, thanks to the JOLLIBEE MASCOTS.

The mascots of JOLLIBEE
not only fed the fantasy of children, but because they were so life-like, they
could interact with them in many fun moments.

In a special way, the JOLLIBEE mascot became role models too,
for each one was created with different characteristics to reflect the various product
qualities. But all were likeable and appealing.

JOLLIBEE in 1989

The lead mascot of JOLLIBEE
Foods Corporation was , of course, JOLLIBEE,
introduced in 1980. His name says it all—JOLLIBEE is a happy, loveable, active figure who flits from one place to another to
spread merriment on everyday occasions.

JFC
Founding Chairman, Tony Tan Cak Tiong, has often likened the mascot's character
to the Filipino working folk, noting that the bee "hops around and
produces sweet things for life, and is happy even though it is busy".

Ms. CHICKEE,
the brand mascot for Chickenjoy, was introduced in 1983.

That same year, the mini-skirted
bovine beauty, LADY MOO, was launched to represent the Milkshakes product.

She would
be joined in 1985 by MICO, a kid in
red short overalls wearing a milkshake cup for a cap. All three would later be
discontinued.

The fastfoods’premium burger, CHAMP, also had a mascot with the same name, introduced in 1984.
With a hamburger head, CHAMP was
dressed as a boxer, complete with gloves and a robe, but, like a boxer, the
mascot, has also been retired.

MR. YUM was
the original name of the Yumburger mascot, created in 1989. Dressed in a dark
suit, he wears a bowler hat in the shape of a Yumburger bun. In 2008, he was
updated and became simply YUM, a
younger, more funky boy in a raglan shirt and shades, but with the same, sesame
seed-topped burger cap.

TWIRLIE was
the name of the girl mascot who personified the very popular Twirly Sundaes
that were launched way back in 1988. In mall shows, she performs her own
special Twirly Dance.

An unusual mascot was seen in 1984, who sported his
stringy hair made from—spaghetti noodles. HETTY,
the resident spaghetti mascot, was nonetheless, a consistent crowd favorite.

But if HETTY seemed unusual with her
noodle ‘do, POPO looked awfully strange with his stringy hair made from—French Fries!
The potato boy has since transformed into a less weird-looking dude, with the cardboard
pocket holder taken off his head.

JOLLIBEE has successfully
employed mascots as promotional vehicles, and they are always in demand not
only for the Kiddie Parties, but also for corporate events. Christmas time is
when their mascots are at their busiest, where they not only attend partie but
also go on school tours, headline musical events, star in commercials, and make
special TV appearances. Children would crowd around to touch them, talk to
them, pinch them, pat them, adore them-to the point of hero worship.

WATCH THE JOLLIBEE MASCOTS HERE:

Jollibee (Apat na Dekada), posted by Glover Reselosa

They have been replicated as toys and dolls, featured on licensed merchandise from clocks to plates to pillows and lamps, clothing and school bags.

JOLLIBEE MASCOTS IN OPERETTAS THAT EDUCATE AND IMPART VALUES, 1987

As the characters are also used to promote various
advocacies—from propagating Pilipino as a language, imparting local values, to endorsing sanitation and cleanliness
programs—the mascots have to conduct themselves in certain way, guided by a
Jollibee Manual which has a mascot code of do’s and don’ts.

COLLECTBLE JOLLIBEE MASCOTS VINYL TOYS, credits to the owner of this photo

Today, the JOLLIBEE
MASCOTS have all become part of the Philippine pop culture, and there is
not a single kid who cannot, at once, identify him and his circle of friends.

JOLLIBEE MASCOTS AT A KIDDIE PARTY

After
all, they could always be counted on to spread fun,good times and great eats!
As one Jollibee fan astutely observed --“JOLLIBEE is not a bee..he is a
FRIEND!”.

Friday, April 20, 2018

CINDY'S TV commercial spawned one of the most memorable jingles in 1984.

CINDY’s—the
place to be—was founded in 1971 by a group of businessmen in Tarlac who simply
envisioned a restaurant that served “good food in a good place”. Thus was born
the first CINDY’s store in Tarlac in
1972, a bakeshop and restaurant place that served a standard fare of baked
breads, and merienda favorites.

The successful reception to the store prompted them to open more branches and to offer new
menu items like burgers, French fries and express meals. But it was the
bakeshop that gave CINDY’s a
competitive edge.

WATCH 'CINDY'S "The Place To Be" TVC Here:

At its peak, CINDY’s
was promoted through national advertising, a no mean feat for a homegrown
business. Its campaign "The Place To be", spawned a memorable jingle that is still remembered until now.

To focus on its uniqueness, CINDY’s re-conceptualized its product in
1996, by opening a store that was first a bakery, and secondarily a restaurant.
This gave it an edge above the rising number of fast food joints. Today, now on
its 46th year, CINDY’s
has over 62 branches nationwide.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Along with Susan Roces, Amalia Fuentes (b. 27 Aug. 1940) was
one of the first truesuperstars of the
Philippine silver screen of the 60s decade. Naga-born Fuentes was the daughter
of Alvaro Muhlach Sr., a Filipino of German-Spanish blood, and Concepcion
Amador. Her father had died during the war, so when she came of age, Fuentes
decided to find work to support the family.

She topped the contest, along with male winner, Juancho
Gutierrez, and their careers were launched via their debut film, “Movie Fan”.

It was an instant success and she went on to make more blockbuster hits with
Juancho like “Sonata” (1957) and “Pakiusap” (1959). Eventually, she was paired
with Romeo Vasquez (“Pretty Boy”, “Ako ang May Sala”), who would become her
husband, and father of their daughter Liezl.

AMALIA FUENTES for Mantrade's Fairlane

But it was in the 1960s that her star shone the
brightest, beginning with the “Ako ang May Sala” (1960), and the 1963 romantic
comedy “Ang Senyorito at ang Atsay”. Her intense screen rivalry with Susan Roces
further heightened her fame. They had appeared together in “Amy, Susie, Tessie”
(1960). When Roces did the popular “Susanang Daldal”, Fuentes countered with “Amaliang
Mali-Mali”, and the competition was on.

SLIM, SLEEK AND BEAUTIFUL AS THE CAR, Mantrade Ad, 1965

As a an actress of superstar status, Fuentes was squired
by many companies to endorse their products. The largest Ford dealer in the
country, manila Trading & Supply Co. or MANTRADE, signed her up in 1965 to appear in print ads for their
latest car model—Fairlane 500.

FUENTES IN REVE D'OR Ads. 1965

She also became an endorser of REVE D’OR,a premium line of
cosmetics (Lotion, Face Powder, Perfume) distributed by Oceanic Commercial Inc. in
1965.

Fuentes became the face of LUX Beauty Soap in 1969, a casting coup for the brand which had
signed up Susan Roces earlier as one of their Lux ladies.She did a TV commercial that showed her at
her most beautiful.

She supported her daughter with Vasquez, Liezl Sumilang,
when she,too, became a child star and a commercial model, most notably for
SCOTT’S EMULSION in 1974.

The checkered career of Fuentes included not just acting,
but she also forayed into movie producing, screenplay writing and directing.
But no doubt, it was the pulling power of her beauty that she will be
remembered for, earning admiration from three generations of fans who have
dubbed her as the Philippine answer to Elizabeth Taylor.

Friday, April 6, 2018

BIRCH TREE MILK POWDER was a milk brand manufactured by
Veghel-Holland Dairy, and distributed in the Philippines beginning in the late
1960s. It came in attractive cans showing a Holstein-Friesian cow grazing in an
idyllic field dotted with—what else?—birch trees.

The powdered milk slowly build up its market as it began
advertising in 1967, with rather generic ads, but showing foreign talents. The
fact that it was imported from Europe was a plus, but what made it even more
attractive was its affordable price, lower than rising leaderNido.

BIRCH TREE early Print Ad, 1969

By the late 70s, BIRCH TREE gained over other powdered
milk brands and became a market leader. Its once-generic advertising became
sharper as it strategically capitalized on its affordability. Hence, it was a tasty, healthy milk that everyone can drink. This became the basis of its mid 1980s campaign--BIRCH TREE “It's Everybody’s
Milk".

WATCH BIRCH TREE"EVERYBODY'S MILK"

1985 TVC HERE:

Birch Tree TVC 1985 version 2: uploaded by alanchan80,

Nov. 3, 2015, via Mr. Jojo Devera of JDTV/Magsine Tayo Channel.

BIRCH TREE TV ads, many produced on videotape, lorded
over the airwaves in the 1980s, featuring foreign imagery from Europe,
including windmills and talking Holstein-Friesian cows. The brand even utilized
popular TV host and radio announcer Helen Vela, superimposed on moving pictures
of Holland, “the milk capital of the world”.

WATCH BIRCH TREE "HELEN VELA"

1985 TVC HERE:

Birch Tree TVC featuring Helen Vela:uploaded by alanchan80,

Nov. 1, 2015

via Mr. Jojo Devera of JDTV/Magsne Tayo Channel.

But then, in April 1986, the catastrophic Chernobyl
incident happened, in which a fire set ablaze a nuclear power plant, resulting
in a radioactive fallout that drifted drifted
over large parts of Soviet Union—including Europe. The accident severely affected the dairy
business of Europe—Holland included---as the grazing lands of cows were
contaminated with radioactive particles.

Two months later, 39 containers of BIRCH TREE powdered
milk and 4,000 cartons of Dutch Lady milk arrived in the Philippines. Though
they shipment came witharmed safety
certificates, tests conducted by the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission show
the milk products to have high levels of radioactive substances—5 times the
level of allowable contamination.

Thus, Health Minister Alfredo Bengzon ordered the recall
of BIRCH TREE Milk Powder from the market. That would signal the downfall of
the milk brand, and for some time, people shied away from BIRCH TREE. The
campaign that touted the Dutch origin of the milk brand only added salt to
injury.

BIRCH TREE PRINT AD, 1974.

As years passed, and as the Chernobyl incident was
becoming a distant memory, efforts to revive the brand began with a TV commercial
that reminded people that “you can’t put a good milk down”. BIRCH TREE
loyalists continued to patronize the brand after the dust had cleared and the
ban was lifted.

It took Century Pacific Food Inc. (CPFI), the Filipino
food conglomerate founded in 1978 by Ricardo S. Po Sr., to revive the milk
brand in 2001. It is currently manufactured by its business unit, the Snow
Mountain Dairy Corporation, a business unit belonging to the Century Pacific
Group of Companies, which, by 2008 became the 2nd largest liquid
milk company in the country. It is hoped that BIRCH TREE will once again
reclaim its place in the Philippine market as one of the leading players in the
category, now that it is already manufactured locally.

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

Vintage Philippine advertising revisited--from yesteryears' TV, Radio commercials and Print ads that pushed and sold products while entertaining and engaging us--and which are now part of our pop culture history! Plus other interesting features from the classic age of Philippine Advertising.

Don't change that dial...we'll be right back....isa munang patalastas!